The situation about the Rays needed a new stadium continues to degrade. And St. Pete Mayor Bill Foster isn't helping.
Despite calls from Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg to have Tampa and St. Pete to unite, St. Pete continues to say basically "No chance!!"
It's getting to the point where I fear for the future of baseball in Tampa Bay. I mean even though the lease for Tropicana Field runs through 2027, I don't think the team will survive that long.
Look at it this way, the Rays have one of the worst attendance records in the MLB. Yet their television ratings are through the roof. So, that tells me fans do want to support this team. But I have to agree with the majority of the Tampa residents, it's hard to get off work at 5:30pm or 6pm and make it to the Trop in time for the 7:10pm first pitch with the type of traffic the area has.
Yet we still have those "Don't raise my taxes" screams. And now their are those of "F*** you Stu!" And those calling him a greedy wall street person. I would have to disagree, Stu is doing everything he can to make this team succeed in the area. He's lowered ticket prices, added the Summer Concert Series, changed the team name to something more marketable. I mean what more do you want this guy to do? He's done all he can, and while the World Series appearance has clearly sparked futher interest in the team (judging from the TV rating and the fact you can hardly go a local news cast without seeing a Rays shirt or hat) it hasn't translated in to more fans actually attending the games like they had hoped.
So from what I can see, baseball in downtown St. Pete just isn't gonna work like the Mayors pipe dream has it working. And keeping the team in this losing situation, obviously, hurts the team and it's fans.
Chip Carter, the sports director for FOX 13 said yesterday on the noon newscast that there's a lack of corporate sponsorship as well, and I can see that too.
The fact is with out fans coming to the park, they don't have the revenue to stay continually competitive. They are going to lose guys like Carlos Pena, Carl Crawford and eventually Evan Longoria.
I personally don't care what has to be done to preserve the future of the Rays in Tampa Bay as a whole. St. Pete Times Sports Columnist Gary Shelton made the case that it's better the Rays are trying their ultimate best to stay in Tampa Bay rather trying to move to say Las Vegas.
But Bill Foster doesn't see it that way. To him the Rays are stuck at Tropicana Field unless they only look inside St. Pete City limits for a new ballpark location, which according to the ABC collation, the group formed to find the best location for a new ballpark, will also be doomed to failure, and the Rays will die.
And it absolutely pains me to see these comments from "fans", "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." It hurts, I don't think they get how much the Rays are needed by the area. And the ones that do get talked down to like a little child.
It's just a messy situation with no one solution in sight cause of all the stubbornness and greediness from the St. Pete side. Tampa officials don't want any legal trouble. I can't blame them. It's almost as if St.Pete hates the Rays when they want something like this and loves them when they're playing good and staying in line without any lip.
The fact is simply this, it may hurt to lose the team you fought so hard to get, but do you really want to continue to be so stubborn at the expense of hurting the entire Bay area and every fan of the Rays?
There are no free rides to being the hometown to a professional team. There are sacrifices that have to be made. The question is, how far are you as a fan willing to go to keep the team you love? If you not willing to do whatever it takes, then maybe you're just not as big of a fan as you think.
My bottom line remains the same: Either you unite as one or you stay divided and fighting and you lose the team. There is no way to change that no matter how you want to spin it.
Showing posts with label Tampa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tampa. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Either unite or lose the team
I have really lost some respect for the people of St. Pete, Florida over the past couple of weeks.
The way they are acting over the fact the Tampa Bay Rays need a new stadium is so juvenile, and it's not just the city leaders. The residents have been just as bad. Some even going as far to refer to the residents of Tampa as "Tampons". This attitude has turned me off to visiting the city to watch a baseball game in June. Which is not what the city nor the team needs.
In case you haven't heard, the Rays in 2008 proposed a water front stadium in St. Pete to replace the aging and inadequate Tropicana Field. It was, as expected, not well received cause of where it would be built (it would have been built on the current location of what is known as Progress Energy Park) and how it would be funded (a small tax hike). The Rays abandoned the plans in February of last year when they learned it would be inadequate as well. And so then-St. Pete mayor Rick Baker along with the Rays, established committee to explore possible areas for a new stadium. When the group released their report one year later, there was a negative reception from St.Pete officials cause it was rumored that the committee explored and agreed to areas outside the St. Pete city limits. St. Pete wanted nothing to do with he report citing a lease with the Rays to keep the team at "The Trop" (Tropicana Field) until 2027. Meanwhile, a few Hillsborough County officials (the county where Tampa is) wanted to hear the report, to which St. Pete threatened legal action if any further interference from Tampa and Hillsborough county officials happened to "help the Rays breach a contract".
There have been reports that former Tampa mayor Dick Greco is working with group to get a stadium built on the Florida State Fairgrounds. While another report has a local, small time realtor shopping for land in the Channelside area next to the St. Pete Times Forum for a possible new stadium, but the realtor behind the "shopping" said it's only preliminary plans that she doesn't expect to go any further unless the Rays want them to.
Part of the committee's findings say if the Rays do not get a new stadium before 2027, they expect the Tampa Bay area to lose the Rays to another market like San Antonio, Portland or, by a slight chance, Orlando.
Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig has said himself that the Rays need a new stadium QUICK. Stuart Sternburg, the owner of the Rays, has said he can't afford a new stadium himself or he would build it himself.
Now the opinion part of this blog: Tampa and St. Pete need to unite or lose the team for good. These personal attacks from both sides are juvenile and don't solve anything. I also see comments in the comments section of these articles I've read that say "Don't raise my taxes". Now my opinion on this is one thing, either you raise taxes to fund a new stadium or lose the team you fought so hard to get in the first place to another market (read this and this to learn how hard the area fought to get the team). These juvenile attacks and selfish claims of "Don't raise my taxes" only increase the chance of losing the team. Now I live in Polk County, so none of the money problems really effect me so it's easy to claim these things. But I don't think I would feel any different if I was gonna be effected. This is my baseball team, I don't want to lose my team to San Antonio or some other market. St. Pete, by way of current mayor Bill Foster, could easily stop being selfish and let the Rays out of their lease for "The Trop" until 2027 to ease the legal situation so serious talks could commence about a new stadium. Use that High speed rail money from the Obama administration's "Stimulus bill" to fund a new stadium, we don't need that high speed rail anyway.
Bottom line: Tampa and St. Pete need to unite to fund and build a new stadium in either city or lose the team. Period.
The way they are acting over the fact the Tampa Bay Rays need a new stadium is so juvenile, and it's not just the city leaders. The residents have been just as bad. Some even going as far to refer to the residents of Tampa as "Tampons". This attitude has turned me off to visiting the city to watch a baseball game in June. Which is not what the city nor the team needs.
In case you haven't heard, the Rays in 2008 proposed a water front stadium in St. Pete to replace the aging and inadequate Tropicana Field. It was, as expected, not well received cause of where it would be built (it would have been built on the current location of what is known as Progress Energy Park) and how it would be funded (a small tax hike). The Rays abandoned the plans in February of last year when they learned it would be inadequate as well. And so then-St. Pete mayor Rick Baker along with the Rays, established committee to explore possible areas for a new stadium. When the group released their report one year later, there was a negative reception from St.Pete officials cause it was rumored that the committee explored and agreed to areas outside the St. Pete city limits. St. Pete wanted nothing to do with he report citing a lease with the Rays to keep the team at "The Trop" (Tropicana Field) until 2027. Meanwhile, a few Hillsborough County officials (the county where Tampa is) wanted to hear the report, to which St. Pete threatened legal action if any further interference from Tampa and Hillsborough county officials happened to "help the Rays breach a contract".
There have been reports that former Tampa mayor Dick Greco is working with group to get a stadium built on the Florida State Fairgrounds. While another report has a local, small time realtor shopping for land in the Channelside area next to the St. Pete Times Forum for a possible new stadium, but the realtor behind the "shopping" said it's only preliminary plans that she doesn't expect to go any further unless the Rays want them to.
Part of the committee's findings say if the Rays do not get a new stadium before 2027, they expect the Tampa Bay area to lose the Rays to another market like San Antonio, Portland or, by a slight chance, Orlando.
Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig has said himself that the Rays need a new stadium QUICK. Stuart Sternburg, the owner of the Rays, has said he can't afford a new stadium himself or he would build it himself.
Now the opinion part of this blog: Tampa and St. Pete need to unite or lose the team for good. These personal attacks from both sides are juvenile and don't solve anything. I also see comments in the comments section of these articles I've read that say "Don't raise my taxes". Now my opinion on this is one thing, either you raise taxes to fund a new stadium or lose the team you fought so hard to get in the first place to another market (read this and this to learn how hard the area fought to get the team). These juvenile attacks and selfish claims of "Don't raise my taxes" only increase the chance of losing the team. Now I live in Polk County, so none of the money problems really effect me so it's easy to claim these things. But I don't think I would feel any different if I was gonna be effected. This is my baseball team, I don't want to lose my team to San Antonio or some other market. St. Pete, by way of current mayor Bill Foster, could easily stop being selfish and let the Rays out of their lease for "The Trop" until 2027 to ease the legal situation so serious talks could commence about a new stadium. Use that High speed rail money from the Obama administration's "Stimulus bill" to fund a new stadium, we don't need that high speed rail anyway.
Bottom line: Tampa and St. Pete need to unite to fund and build a new stadium in either city or lose the team. Period.
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